I cover real estate, writing about everything from trends in the housing market to ultra high-end luxury listings to data-based cities lists. Real estate is in my blood thanks to a realtor for a mom and a property developer/landlord for a dad. I have had a front row seat for the real estate market's inflation and subsequent crash over the past decade, watching my dad carry on with underwater mortgages and my mom struggle to put home sales together. I have been both a homeowner and a renter in the New York area and can't decide which I prefer.
I am also a regular guest on the 'Forbes on Fox' show on Fox News every Saturday morning and can sometimes be found discussing the major business headlines of the week on MSNBC's 'Weekends with Alex Witt.'
Before taking on the real estate beat, I worked as an Anchor/Reporter in Forbes Video. These days I shoot videos of crazy homes.
I graduated from New York University in 2009 with a BA in Anthropology and prior to that I worked in the other end of media as a recording artist with Sony.
If you have tips, story ideas or listings to submit for consideration, email me at mbrennan@forbes.com.

Existing Home Sales Decline In June: Here Is What's Behind That Drop

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors released its existing home sales report. While the sales pace of previously owned homes remains 15% higher than it was a year ago, the June numbers reflect a monthly 1.2% decline.

“Affordability conditions remain favorable in most of the country, and we’re still dealing with a large pent-up demand,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR, in a statement. “However, higher mortgage interest rates will bite into high-cost regions of California, Hawaii and the New York City metro area market.”

Several factors contribute to the monthly drop in home sales and while there’s no reason to fret about that decrease just yet, economists are keeping their eyes on those factors to determine just how much they will shape the housing recovery in the second half of 2013. Among them: rising mortgage rates, still-tight inventory levels and decreases in distressed activity.

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates have climbed dramatically over the past two months, fueled by Wall Street speculation over the Federal Reserve’s anticipated plan to begin tapering its $85 billion-per-month bond-buying program by the end of the year. InvestorInvestor activity has pushed the 30-year fixed-rate loan up more than a point to 4.68% in mid-July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, from 3.59% in early May. It’s the highest level in two years.

When rates first started rising some economists and brokers projected that they might drive home sales higher in the short term as prospective buyers feel propelled to jump into the market. They have believed that the increases could incentivize uncertain consumers sitting the proverbial sidelines to buy before the cost of borrowing becomes even more expensive. Even the pending home sales numbers for May hinted at this dynamic.

Yet the June data from the Realtors raises the question of whether rising rates are now already beginning to have the opposite effect, a question that remains unanswered until more time and data collection have elapsed. What we do know is the number of mortgage applications declined a seasonally adjusted 2.6% over the week ending July 12, after falling 4% in the seven days prior.

Inventory Levels

The Realtors’ report shows that inventory levels are slowly beginning to increase. TotalTotal available stock rose 1.9% over the month of June to 2.19 million previously owned homes for sale. Yet, that level remains 7.6% lower than in June of 2012. At the current sales pace, it still translates into a 5.2-month supply — below the 6-month mark typically associated with a healthy balanced market.

That tight supply is arguably the main culprit behind the drop in sales. It has been in earlier months of this year as well, for example, in March, when existing sales slipped o.6% due to a double-digit jump in buyer traffic coupled with a double-digit drop in available homes.

As Bill McBride of the Calculated Risk blog explains: “This is the lowest level of inventory for the month of June since 2001, but this is also the smallest year-over-year decline since June 2011.” He adds that the main takeaways from the NAR report are that inventory is still extremely low, contributing to the dramatic price gains we have seen so far this year, but that the year-over-year inventory declines will likely subside soon, slowing that lofty pace of home price appreciation.

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